Clothesline cleaner



April 18, 1961 R. c. GUNSTON CLOTHESLINE CLEANER Filed June 1, 1959 INVENTOR. Rosa? 6. Gl/NJZOA BY I I M U United S a Paten 10.

v CLOTHESLINE CLEANER Robert C. Gunston, 1028 57th St., Brooklyn 19, N.Y. 7 Filed June 1, 1959, Ser. No. 817,112

Claims. (Cl. 15256.6)

This invention relates to a device for cleaning clotheslines and particularly to a device which can be easily attached to and removed from a clothesline. The principal object of the invention is to provide a cleaner for the type of clothesline in which a piece of rope or similar material is threaded through two pulleys after which the ends of the line are tied together to form an endless loop. Such lines usually remain in place in an exposed location during all kinds of weather and must be cleaned occasionally to remove the accumulation of soot and other dirt thereon in order to prevent freshly laundered clothes from being soiled by the line.

Patented Apr. 18, 1961 tion of the clothesline passing through the inner part of the U-shaped cleaner 16. This wiper 19 may be impregnated with a suitable detergent or cleanser to assist in removing dirt from the line.

In order to hold the wiper 19 in place as the cleaner 16 is pulled back and forth along the clothesline, the edges of the side walls 17 and 18 may be turned inward, as indicated by reference characters 21 and 22, to form a partially enclosed receptacle for the wiper 19.

The means for pulling the cleaner 16 along the-clothesline 11 consists of a pair of oppositely directed hooks 23 The present invention comprises a U-shaped body I it, and in order to move the wiper along the line the body is provided with engaging means that extend into contact with the other parallel section of line. Since in the usual case the line is knotted and the knot does not pass through the pulleys, the engaging means are preferably hooked on the section on the line immediately adjacent the knot to move therewith so as to pull the wiper and U-shaped body along the parallel line as the closed loop of line travels through the pulleys.

f In describing the invention in greater detail in the following specification reference will be made to the drawings in which! Fig. 1 shows a perspective view of a cleaner constructed according to the invention and in operating position upon a clothesline; and

Fig. 2 shows an end view of the cleaner of Fig. 1.

In Fig. 1 the clothesline 11 is threaded upon two pulleys 12 and 13 which are attached by conventional means to a supporting structure (not shown). The line 11 consists of a piece of rope the ends of which are joined together by a knot 14 so that the upper and lower sections of the line on opposite sides of the pulleys 12 and 13 form, in effect, parallel lines. While the drawing shows a very simple form of knot, other forms, such as a slip knot, may be preferred. Normally the knot 14 will not pass through the pulleys 12 and 13 and it is, in fact, not necessary that it should do so, for the usual practice in using such a line is to move the loop until the knot 14 is close to the pulley 21 and then to begin attaching laundry to that section of the line 11 immediate- 1y adjacent to the knot. As laundry is added to the line, the knot 14 is moved outward away from the pulley 12 and eventually reaches the other pulley 13 when the lower section of the line 11 is fully loaded with laundry.

The novel clothesline cleaner 16 has a U-shaped body portion that fits over one section of the clothesline 11. Two side walls 17 and 18 form the sides of the U-shaped portion and hang down from the upper section of the line 11 toward the lower section thereof. A disposable wiper 19 in the form of a sponge or other suitable ma terial is folded over the clothesline 11 and is held be tween the two side walls 17 and 18 to engage that porand 24, which may be attached to the body portion of the cleaner 16 by any convenient means such as by riveting the hooks to one of the side walls 17. Since the cleaner 16 is to be pulled along by means of the hooks 23 and 24, the'latter may be hooked over the section of the clothesline 11 immediately adjacent to the knot 14, as shown, or the hooks may actually be placed so that the knot 14 is between them, thus assuring that they will not slip. Some forms of knots suitable for tying the ends of the line 11 together in place of the simple knot 14 shown may have a loop that can serve as a part of the point of attachment for the hooks 23 and 24. If the hooks are both placed as shown on one side of the knot 14, it may be desirable to form another knot 26 on the other side of hooks to prevent the latter from slipping.

The reason for takingsuch precautions to obviate slippage of the hooks along clothesline 11 is that there is necessarily a considerable amount of friction between the wiper 19 and the upper section ofthe clothesline 11 in contact with the wiper. This frictional engagement between the wiper 19 and the line 11 is actually'increased on one section of the wiper when the cleaner is pulled along the line, by virtue of the fact that the resultant force couple between the engaging hooks 23 and 24 on the lower section of the line 11 and the frictional drag of the wiper 19 on the upper section of the line 11 causes the entire cleaner to tilt backward somewhat as it is pulled along. This increases the pressure of the backend of the wiper 19 on the upper part of the line 11 and thereby assists in removing dirt from the line. Furthermore, since the cleaner 16 tilts in the opposite direction when the direction of travel of the line 11 is reversed, the opposite portions of the cleaner 19 then bear the brunt of the cleaning action. This distributes the cleansing effect, as well as the wear, more uniformly over the surface of the wiper 19 and prevents dirt that was picked up on the outgoing travel of the cleaner 16 from merely being reapplied on the return ourney.

The easiest way to attach the cleaner to the line is to engage the hooks 23 and 24. This may be done by placing the lower edge of the side 17 perpendicularly against the line with one of the hooks on each side of the line and then twisting the cleaner 16 so as to engage both the hooks 23 and 24 with the line. Once the books: 23 and 24 are thus engaged, the cleaner 16 will not slip off of the line accidentally. Normally the line 11 has sufficient resiliency or slack to permit the upper and lowersections to be brought close enough together so that the other side 18 can then be hooked over the wiper 19, which is folded over the upper section of the line. No bending or other manipulation of the solid parts of the cleaner are required. No moving parts are necessary and none are provided.

The advantage of placing both of the hooks 23 and 24 on the same side 17 is that it greatly simplifies the attachment of these hooks to the line, especially in making it possible to attach the cleaner with one hand and with the exertion of practically no force. This makes it more likely that the cleaner 16 will be attached to the line, used, and removed each 3 time just before a load of laundry is hung on the line. The reason for removing the cleaner each. time is to prevent the weight of the 1a ndr f .om, undu y i c as n the tast e 91 th wiper 19. Fig. 2 shows an end-view of the cleaner 16 and illustrates the shape of the books 23 and 24 mor e clearly. In order to keep the cleaner vertical on theline the hooks 23 and 24 may be bent inwardly, as shown to place them in approximately the same plane asthe center of curvature of the U-shaped body 16.

In addition to the particular embodiment shown it will be recognized that other embodiments may be made within the limits of .theinvention asset forth in the following claims. 7 i

" What, is claimed is: V

1. A clothesline cleaner comprising: a rigid, ,U-shaped 4 V more complete receptacle in cooperation with the sides of said body portion and to leave a clear passage through said body portion in the bight region thereof; a wiper held within said body portion and substantially filling the space with said receptacle, said wiper being placed within said body portion in a U-shaped configuration congruent with said body portion to leave an accessible but restricted channel from the open ends of said U-shaped body portion and said wiper to the bight portions thereof; and a pair of hooks rigidly extending from one side of said body portion at the open edge thereof opposite body portion; a wiper held within said body portion and substantiallyfilling the space therein, said wiper being placed within said body portion in a urshaped configuration congruent with said body portionto leave an accessible but restricted channel from the open ends of said U-shaped body portion and said .wiper to the bight portions thereof; and a pair of hooks extending from one side of said body portion at the open end thereof, said hooks being spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the clothesline, and said hooks being curved in opposite directions. V

2. A clothesline cleaner comprising: a rigid, L J -shaped body portion; a'wiper held within said body portion and substantially filling. the space therein, said wiper being placed within said body portion in a' U-shaped configu: ration congruent with said body portion to leave an accessible but restricted channel from the open end of said U-shaped body portion and said wiper to the bight portion thereof; end members at both ends of said body portion extending inwardly across the open space of said U-shaped body to form a more complete enclosure for said wiper; and a pair of hooks extending from one side of said body portion at the open end thereof, said hooks being spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the clotheslinefand said hooks being curved in opposite directions. a

3. A clothesline cleaner comprising: a rigid, U-shaped body portion; end flaps at each end thereof extending at least partiallyacrossthe open area of said U-shaped body portion, except in the bight region thereof to form a said bight region, said hooks being spaced apart by a distance greater than the thickness of the clothesline, and said hooks being curved in opposite directions and aligned with each other.

4. The clothesline cleaner of claim 3 in which said hooks extend inwardly across the open end of said U- shaped body to lie in substantially the same plane with each other and with the center of said u-shaped body.

5. A clothesline cleaner comprising: a rigid y-shaped body portion having two spaced parallel side walls joined together along one edge by a bight; inwardly extending fiaps along the edges at the ends of said sides to form a partially enclosed receptacle; a wiper sponge folded into a U-shape and rernovably held within said body portion with the bight of said sponge congruent the bight of said body portion to leave an accessible but re stricted' channel from the, open edges of said U-shaped body portion and said sponge to the bights thereof; and a pair of hooks rigidly extending fromone of the open edges of said body portion of one side of said body portion, said hooks being spaced apart by a distance greather than the thickness of theclothesline and being curved parallel to each other butin opposite "directions and perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of said body portion and aligned with each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS- 310,938 Gilliland Jan. 20, ,1885 1,294,617 Cartisser Feb. 18, 1919 1,530,950 Kocian Mar. 24, 1925 1,633,382 Koester June 21, 1927 1,860,306 Biener May- 24, 1932 2,255,154 Esposito Sept. 9, .1941 

